UFC President Dana White Gives Major Update on Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier Fight

UFC 264 will be one of the biggest events in MMA history. On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White announced that the main event will be the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. While also revealed there will be a full-capacity crowd at UFC 264, which will take place on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I signed bout agreement this morning,” McGregor told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday. “I’m going to rip this game a new a-hole July 10th. The Mac is back in Sin City! Full house!” The last time McGregor and Poirier fought was at UFC 257 in January. Poirier came away with the victory after losing to McGregor in 2014.

“I’m so happy to finally be able to say Vegas is back,” White said in his tweeted video. “This summer Las Vegas is back open for business and on July 10, UFC 264 will be at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 100% capacity. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s 20,000 fans.” The news comes after Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced he is seeking to lift social distancing restrictions by May 1 across the state and reach 100% capacity by June 1. However, there will be a statewide mandate of masks.

UFC 264 will be the first pay-per-view event since March 2020 to have a capacity crowd. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, UFC has held events in Las Vegas, Florida and Fight Island (in Abu Dhabi). The next scheduled UFC pay-per-view event is UFC 261 which will take place in Jacksonville, Florida.

White’s announcement comes two days after McGregor called off the fight following a claim he didn’t follow through with a donation. In a tweet, McGregor ripped Poirier, calling him an “inbred hillbilly,” a “brain dead hillbilly,” and a “fool” who “must be new to money” before confirming, “the fight is off [by the way],” and then stated he will “fight someone else.” McGregor said he would donate $500,000 to Poirier’s The Good Fight Foundation, but Poirier alleged the donation was never made. He then explained “his team reached out fight week to initiate the process but ghosted us the past 2 months after the fight” and his “foundation has reached out 3 times since with no reply.”